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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "DAVID LEE." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <avidlee33@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2013 05:56:52 -0500
Subject: RE: (REPLY ME BACK)

GREETINGS SIR,
 
MY NAME IS DAVID LEE, I WORK FOR THE UNITED NATIONS, I AM THE INSPECTION OFFICER FOR ALL CONSIGNMENT COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON BEHALF OF THE UNITED NATIONS.  I DISCOVERED THAT YOU HAVE AN ABANDONED CONSIGNMENT FROM EUROPE , AFTER DUE INVESTIGATION, I DISCOVERED THAT THE CONSIGNMENT WAS MEANT TO BE DELIVERED TO YOUR ADDRESS , BUT BECAUSE OF INSPECTION AND SECURITY ALERT ON CONSIGNMENTS COMING FROM EUROPE, AFRICA AND ASIA THE DIPLOMATS CAN NOT COMPLETE THE DELIVERY TO YOU AND YOUR CONSIGNMENT WAS ABANDONED AND LEFT WITHOUT NOTICE OF RETURN.
 
THIS CONSIGNMENT HAS BEEN KEPT IN OUR STORAGE FACILITY FOR A PERIOD OF TIME. AS I WRITE THIS MESSAGE TO YOU, I WAS JUST CLEARING UP THE STORAGE ROOM TODAY WHEN I DISCOVERED THE SEALED CONSIGNMENT, AND ON CHECKING THE CONSIGNMENT NUMBER ON OUR DATABASE, I DISCOVERED THAT IT WAS MADE TO BE DELIVERED TO YOU BUT WAS LEFT OUT BECAUSE OF UNCOMPLETED DOCUMENTATIONS.
 
I DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU TO HEAR FROM YOU AND KNOW YOUR READINESS TO RECEIVE IT AT THIS TIME.I CAN COMPLETE THIS DELIVERY TO YOU WITHOUT DELAYS, BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO PROMISE ME THAT I WILL  GET  15% OF THE TOTAL MONEY IN THE CONSIGNMENT AND I WANT TO INFORM YOU THAT THIS TRANSACTION MUST BE CONFIDENTIAL BETWEEN THE BOTH OF US.
 
I WILL NOT WANT TO WASTE YOUR TIME, I SHALL ATTACH TO THIS MESSAGE WITH MY IDENTIFICATION FOR NOW, AND SHALL SEND YOU MORE INFORMATION ON HOW WE CAN COMPLETE THIS ONCE I HEAR FROM YOU.
 
KINDLY REVERT TO ME BY E-MAIL.
 
DAVID LEE.

Anti-fraud resources: